Cognitive interactive elevator assistant

ABSTRACT

A method for providing an interactive elevator assistant is provided. The method may include identifying amenities associated with a property and location-based features within a vicinity of the property. The method may further include mapping the amenities to floor levels associated with the property. The method may further include receiving user input from a user located on an elevator associated with the property. The method may further include, in response to determining that the received user input comprises an amenity, determine the one or more floor levels on the property that are associated with the amenity and triggering the elevator to navigate to the determined one or more floor levels. The method may also include, in response to determining that the received user input comprises a location-based feature, sending the received user input to an application for processing. The method may further include providing a response via the elevator.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, andmore specifically, to internet of things (IoT) associated withelevators.

Generally, elevators may be used to access different levels associatedwith a property such as hotels, residences, and office buildings.Typically, when taking an elevator, users/guests may manually press abutton associated with a floor number to access a corresponding floorlevel. Additionally, voice-based elevator operations may also be used,whereby the elevator may be equipped with a microphone within theelevator to receive a user's voice saying the floor number.

SUMMARY

A method for providing an elevator assistant is provided. The method mayinclude identifying a plurality of amenities associated with a property,and identifying a plurality of location-based features within a vicinityof the property. The method may further include mapping the plurality ofidentified amenities to one or more floor levels associated with theproperty. The method may also include storing the plurality ofidentified and mapped amenities. The method may further includereceiving user input from a user located on an elevator associated withthe property. The method may further include, in response to determiningthat the received user input comprises at least one amenity associatedwith the stored plurality of identified and mapped amenities,determining the one or more floor levels on the property that areassociated with the at least one amenity and triggering the elevator tonavigate to the determined one or more floor levels. The method may alsoinclude, in response to determining that the received user inputcomprises at least one location-based feature associated with theplurality of location-based features within the vicinity of theproperty, sending the received user input to an application forprocessing. The method may further include, providing a response to theuser on the elevator based on the determined one or more floor levelsand the processed received user input via the application.

A computer system for providing an elevator assistant is provided. Thecomputer system may include one or more processors, one or morecomputer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangiblestorage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one ormore processors via at least one of the one or more memories, wherebythe computer system is capable of performing a method. The method mayinclude identifying a plurality of amenities associated with a property,and identifying a plurality of location-based features within a vicinityof the property. The method may further include mapping the plurality ofidentified amenities to one or more floor levels associated with theproperty. The method may also include storing the plurality ofidentified and mapped amenities. The method may further includereceiving user input from a user located on an elevator associated withthe property. The method may further include, in response to determiningthat the received user input comprises at least one amenity associatedwith the stored plurality of identified and mapped amenities,determining the one or more floor levels on the property that areassociated with the at least one amenity and triggering the elevator tonavigate to the determined one or more floor levels. The method may alsoinclude, in response to determining that the received user inputcomprises at least one location-based feature associated with theplurality of location-based features within the vicinity of theproperty, sending the received user input to an application forprocessing. The method may further include, providing a response to theuser on the elevator based on the determined one or more floor levelsand the processed received user input via the application.

A computer program product for providing an interactive elevatorassistant is provided. The computer program product may include one ormore computer-readable storage devices and program instructions storedon at least one of the one or more tangible storage devices, the programinstructions executable by a processor. The computer program product mayinclude program instructions to identify a plurality of amenitiesassociated with a property, and identify a plurality of location-basedfeatures within a vicinity of the property. The method may furtherinclude mapping the plurality of identified amenities to one or morefloor levels associated with the property. The computer program productmay further include program instructions to store the plurality ofidentified and mapped amenities. The computer program product may alsoinclude program instructions to receive user input from a user locatedon an elevator associated with the property. The computer programproduct may also include program instructions to, in response todetermining that the received user input comprises at least one amenityassociated with the stored plurality of identified and mapped amenities,determine the one or more floor levels on the property that areassociated with the at least one amenity and triggering the elevator tonavigate to the determined one or more floor levels. The computerprogram product may further include program instructions to, in responseto determining that the received user input comprises at least onelocation-based feature associated with the plurality of location-basedfeatures within the vicinity of the property, send the received userinput to an application for processing. The computer program product mayalso include program instructions to provide a response to the user onthe elevator based on the determined one or more floor levels and theprocessed received user input via the application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings arenot to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating oneskilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction withthe detailed description. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a networked computer environment according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a flow of execution for aninteractive elevator assistant program according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an operational flowchart illustrating the steps carried out bya program for providing an interactive elevator assistant according toone embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the system architecture of a program forproviding an interactive elevator assistant in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an illustrative cloud computing environmentincluding the computer system depicted in FIG. 1 for providing aninteractive elevator assistant in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of functional layers of the illustrative cloudcomputing environment of FIG. 5 for providing an interactive elevatorassistant in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosedherein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may beembodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. In the description, details ofwell-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the presented embodiments.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field ofcomputing, and more particularly, to internet of things (IoT) associatedwith elevators. The following described exemplary embodiments provide asystem, method and program product for providing an interactive elevatorassistant. Specifically, the present embodiment has the capacity toimprove the technical field associated with elevators by enablingelevators to navigate to different floor levels associated with aproperty, as well as provide responses to users based on amenitiesassociated with a property, in response to received descriptions of theamenities associated with the property. Specifically, the system, methodand program product may identify amenities of a property, map thedifferent amenities of the property to corresponding floor levelsassociated with the property, and provide a response to users as well asnavigate to the corresponding floor levels in response to receiving adescription of the different amenities from a user.

As previously described with respect to IoT, when taking an elevator,users/guests may manually press a button associated with a floor numberor may audibly say the floor number to access the corresponding floorlevel of a given property. For example, a user using an elevator mayaudibly say “4^(th) floor” to access floor level 4. In such cases,navigation of the elevator is exclusively dependent on the userproviding the floor number. Specifically, users would have to know andprovide the floor number of the floor level they would like to accessbefore navigating to that floor level. However, in certain cases,users/guests may not know the floor number and/or floor level they wouldlike to access, but instead may know the feature the user would like toaccess or inquire about. For example, users using an elevator in a hotelmay want to access a floor level that includes a certain amenity such asan ice machine. However, the users may not know the floor numbers thatare associated with the ice machines, and in turn, the users may have togo through a process of discovering the floor numbers for the icemachines before navigating to the floor levels that include the icemachines. Such a process can be inconvenient and time-consuming forusers. As such, it may be advantageous, among other things, to provide asystem, method and program product for providing an interactive elevatorassistant capable of receiving a description of amenities associatedwith a property to enable an elevator to navigate to the floor levelcomprising the described amenities as well as provide responses to usersbased on the amenities associated with the property. Specifically, thesystem, method, and program product may identify amenities of aproperty, map the different amenities of the property to correspondingfloor levels associated with the property, navigate to the correspondingfloor levels, as well as provide responses to users in response toreceiving a description of the different amenities from a user.Additionally, the system, method, and program product may identifylocation-based features of a property, such as weather and surroundingareas, that may be sent to and processed by an application, andresponses may be provided to users on an elevator based on a descriptionof the location-based features.

According to at least one implementation of the present embodiment,amenities and locations-based feature associated with a property may beidentified. Next, the identified amenities may be mapped to floor levelsassociated with the property. Then, the identified and mapped amenitiesmay be stored. Next, user input may be received from a user located onan elevator of the property. Next, a floor level associated with atleast one amenity associated with the identified amenities may bedetermined and the elevator may be triggered to navigate to thedetermined floor level in response to determining that the received userinput comprises at least one amenity. Then, the received user input maybe sent to an application for processing in response to determining thatthe received user input comprises at least one location-based featureassociated with the identified location-based features. Next, an audibleresponse may be provided to the user on the elevator.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, method,and program product for providing an cognitive interactive elevatorassistant.

According to at least one implementation, amenities and locations-basedfeature associated with a property may be identified. Next, theidentified amenities may be mapped to floor levels associated with theproperty. Then, the identified and mapped amenities may be stored. Next,user input may be received from a user located on an elevator of theproperty. Next, a floor level associated with at least one amenityassociated with the identified amenities may be determined and theelevator may be triggered to navigate to the determined floor level inresponse to determining that the received user input comprises at leastone amenity. Then, the received user input may be sent to an applicationfor processing in response to determining that the received user inputcomprises at least one location-based feature associated with theidentified location-based features. Next, an audible response may beprovided to the user on the elevator.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary networked computer environment 100in accordance with one embodiment is depicted. The networked computerenvironment 100 may include a computer 102 with a processor 104 and adata storage device 106 that is enabled to run an elevator assistantprogram 108A and a software program 114, and may also include amicrophone (not shown). The networked computer environment 100 may beassociated with an elevator, whereby the networked computer environment100 may be located on and/or in communication with the elevator via acommunication network, such as communication network 110. The softwareprogram 114 may be an application program such as a weather applicationprogram and internet search application program. The elevator assistantprogram 108A may communicate with the software program 114. Thenetworked computer environment 100 may also include a server 112 that isenabled to run an elevator assistant program 108B and the communicationnetwork 110. The networked computer environment 100 may include aplurality of computers 102 and servers 112, only one of which is shownfor illustrative brevity.

According to at least one implementation, the present embodiment mayalso include a database 116, which may be running on server 112. Thecommunication network 110 may include various types of communicationnetworks, such as a wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), atelecommunication network, a wireless network, a public switched networkand/or a satellite network. It may be appreciated that FIG. 1 providesonly an illustration of one implementation and does not imply anylimitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements.

The client computer 102 may communicate with server computer 112 via thecommunications network 110. The communications network 110 may includeconnections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber opticcables. As will be discussed with reference to FIG. 3, server computer112 may include internal components 800 a and external components 900 a,respectively, and client computer 102 may include internal components800 b and external components 900 b, respectively. Server computer 112may also operate in a cloud computing service model, such as Software asa Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Infrastructure as aService (IaaS). Server 112 may also be located in a cloud computingdeployment model, such as a private cloud, community cloud, publiccloud, or hybrid cloud. Client computer 102 may be, for example, amobile device, a telephone, a personal digital assistant, a netbook, alaptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or any type ofcomputing device capable of running a program and accessing a network.According to various implementations of the present embodiment, theelevator assistant program 108A, 108B may interact with a database 116that may be embedded in various storage devices, such as, but notlimited to, a mobile device 102, a networked server 112, or a cloudstorage service.

According to the present embodiment, a program, such as an elevatorassistant program 108A and 108B may run on the client computer 102 or onthe server computer 112 via a communications network 110. The elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B may enable an elevator to navigate to afloor level of a property in response to receiving a description of afeature associated with the property from a user. Specifically, acomputer associated with an elevator, such as computer 102, may run anelevator assistant program 108A, 108B, that may interact with a database116 and a software program 114, to map and store different amenities ofa property to corresponding floor levels associated with the property,and may navigate to the corresponding floor levels in response toreceiving a description of the different amenities and amenities from auser. Furthermore, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B mayidentify location-based features of a property that are related to anapplication, and provide responses to users on an elevator in responseto a description of the location-based features.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a flow diagram 200 illustrating a flow ofexecution for an elevator assistant program 108A, 108B is depicted.Specifically, according to one embodiment, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may be stored on one or more processors, oneor more computer-readable memories, and/or one or more computer-readabletangible storage devices associated with an elevator, and may include aspeech-to-text node 204, a conversation assistant node 206, atext-to-speech node 208, a platform for device management and analyticsnode such as an IBM Watson® IoT Platform node 210 (IBM Watson and allIBM Watson-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of International Business Machines Corporation and/or itsaffiliates), and an application node 212 that may include softwareprogram 114 (FIG. 1) comprising an application such as a weather servicedata company.

The elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may receive userinput 202 from a user 230 located on an elevator 232. Thereafter, at214, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may feed thereceived user input into the speech-to-text node 204, whereby theelevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may convert the receiveduser input into to text. Next, at 216, the elevator assistant program108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may send the converted user input to theconversation node 206, whereby the conversation node 206 may includestored responses to the converted user input. Next, at 218, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may send one or more of the storedresponses to the text-to-speech node 208, which may convert the storedresponses from text to speech. Alternatively, at 220, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may send the stored responses tothe application node 212, such as a weather service data companyapplication, in response to the determination that the stored responseto the converted user input requires further processing from anapplication. Furthermore, at 222, the elevator assistant program 108A,108B (FIG. 1) may send the stored responses to the platform for devicemanagement and analytics node 210, such as IBM Watson® IoT Platform.Then, at 224, using the IBM Watson® IoT Platform node 210, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may trigger movement of theelevator to a desired floor level of a property based on the storedresponses to the received user input. Furthermore, at 226, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may send an audibleacknowledgement response to confirm the desired floor level based on thereceived user input. Additionally, at 228, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may provide an audible application responsebased on the processed stored response. Then, at 240, using thetext-to-speech node 208, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B(FIG. 1) may provide an audible response to the user 230, whereby theaudible response comprises the audible acknowledgement response and/orthe audible application response.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an operational flowchart 300 illustrating thesteps carried out by a program for providing an interactive elevatorassistant is depicted. At 302, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B(FIG. 1) may identify amenities and location-based features associatedwith a property. For example, and as previously described in FIG. 1, theelevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may query a database 116(FIG. 1) and/or software program 114 (FIG. 1), such as a featuredapplication, that may include schematics/diagrams of the property whichmay describe certain amenities, and/or may query the software program114 (FIG. 1) that may include an application such as an internet searchapplication and weather application that may describe certainlocation-based features such as the weather and surrounding areas of theproperty. Also, according to one embodiment, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify amenities associated with aproperty by directly receiving property information inputted by anadministrator associated with the property. Specifically, for example,the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may provide aninterface to enable an administrator to input amenities associated withthe property. Then, based on the query and/or provided propertyinformation associated with the property, the elevator assistant program108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify the amenities of the property, wherebythe amenities may include specific facilities, rooms, and room numbersassociated with the property comprising for example, but not limited to,bathrooms, ice machines, lounges, restaurants/bars on the property,spas, gyms, hotel rooms, and offices. Furthermore, for example, based onthe query associated with location-based features within a vicinity ofthe property, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) mayidentify location-based features such as weather outside the property,and restaurants and stores in a vicinity of the property.

Next, at 304, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may mapthe identified amenities of the property to floor levels associated withthe property. As previously described at step 302, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify amenities associatedwith a property by querying a database 116 (FIG. 1) and/or a softwareprogram 114 (FIG. 1). Thereafter, according to one embodiment, theelevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may map or associate oneor more of the identified amenities with floor levels of the property.For example, for a property such as a hotel, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify amenities like certain roomsand facilities located in the hotel that may include a hotel guest'sspecific room, ice machines, lounge area, computer room area, restaurantand bars, gym, and rooftop. As such, the elevator assistant program108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may map each of the identified amenities to thefloor level associated with the identified amenity. Specifically, forexample, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identifyice machines as an amenity associated with the property, and may map theidentified ice machines to floor levels 2, 4, and 6 where the icemachines are located on the property.

Then, at 306, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) maystore the identified and mapped amenities. As previously described atsteps 302 and 304, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1)may identify amenities associated with a property, and may map one ormore of the identified amenities of the property to floor levelsassociated with the property. Thereafter, the elevator assistant program108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may store the identified and mapped amenities.Specifically, for example, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B(FIG. 1) may store the identified and mapped amenities on a databasesuch as database 116 (FIG. 1) which may be an amenity floor leveldatabase.

Next, at 308, and as previously described in FIG. 2, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may receive user input 202 (FIG.2) from a user 230 (FIG. 2) located on an elevator 232 (FIG. 2), whereinthe user input may include a description, a statement, and/or a phraseassociated with an amenity of the property and/or a location-basedfeature in a vicinity of the property. Specifically, according to oneembodiment, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) mayreceive user input such as receiving a user's voice to describe theamenity of interest and/or the location-based feature of interestassociated with the property. For example, and as described in FIG. 2,the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may receive userinput such as receiving a user saying “my room number is 304,” and/or“go to the rooftop club/bar,” and/or “what is the current weather.”

Then, at 310, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) maydetermine whether the received user input comprises at least one amenityassociated with the identified and mapped amenities, and/or comprises atleast one location-based feature associated with the location-basedfeatures within a vicinity of the property. Specifically, for example,the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may analyze thereceived user input by using the conversation node 206 (FIG. 2) toextract and analyze keywords associated with the received user input,and may compare the keywords to keywords associated with the storedidentified and mapped amenities and/or compare the keywords to one ormore trigger words associated an application feature. Furthermore, andas previously described in FIG. 2 at 216, the conversation node 206(FIG. 2) may analyze the received user input and may include storedresponses to the received user input. According to one embodiment, thestored responses may include identifying the amenity and the floor levelof the amenity associated with the property, and/or identifying thelocation-based feature and the application associated with thelocation-based feature. For example, in response to receiving the userstatement “go to the rooftop club/bar” from a user on an elevator of ahotel property, and based on extraction and analysis, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify the received userinput as property amenity, whereby the property amenity is a club/barthat is located on the rooftop of the hotel. Also, for example, inresponse to receiving the user statement “what is the current weather”from the user on the elevator of the hotel property, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify the received userinput as a location-based feature, and may send a weather inquiryintended for processing by a weather application, such as weather datacompany node 212 (FIG. 2). Furthermore, for example, in response toreceiving the user statement “what are the nearest rooftop clubs/bars”from a user on an elevator of a hotel property, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify the received user input as botha property amenity inquiry and a location-based feature inquiry, wherebythe elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify thehotel rooftop club/bar as a nearby rooftop club/bar as well as send thereceived user input to an application to determine other nearby rooftopclubs/bars based on a vicinity of the hotel (i.e. within 10 miles of thehotel).

Next, at 312, in response to determining that the received user input isat least one amenity associated with the identified and mapped amenitiesof the property, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) maydetermine a floor level associated with the at least one identifiedamenity and trigger the elevator to navigate to the determined floorlevel. Specifically, and as previously described at step 310, theelevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may include storedresponses as well as an amenity floor level database that may identifythe amenity and floor level of the amenity associated with a property.Furthermore, and as previously described in FIG. 2 at 222, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may query the amenity floor leveldatabase to map the identified amenity to the floor level associatedwith the identified amenity, and send the mapped identified amenity tothe platform for device management and analytics node 210 (FIG. 2), suchas the IBM Watson® IoT Platform to trigger movement of the elevator tothe desired floor level based on the query. For example, and aspreviously described, in response to receiving the user statement “go tothe rooftop club/bar” from a user on an elevator of a hotel property,the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify theproperty amenity as a club/bar that is located on the rooftop, and inturn, may determine that the floor level is the rooftop of the hotel byquerying the amenity floor level database to map the identified club/barto the rooftop floor level. Therefore, the elevator assistant program108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may trigger the elevator to navigate to the rooftopof the hotel property.

Alternatively, at 314, in response to determining that the received userinput is at least one location-based feature associated with thelocation-based features of the property, the elevator assistant program108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may send the received user input to an applicationcomprising the at least one location-based feature for processing.Specifically, and as previously described at step 310, the elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may extract and analyze keywordsassociated with the received user input, and may compare the keywords toone or more trigger words, such as “current” and “weather,” associatedwith an application feature. For example, in response to receiving theuser statement “what is the current weather” from the user on theelevator of the hotel property, based on the extracted keyword analysisidentifying “current” and “weather,” the elevator assistant program108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may identify the location-based feature as a weatherinquiry intended for processing by a weather application. Therefore, theelevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may send the receiveduser input to a weather application associated with weather data companynode 212 (FIG. 2), whereby the weather data company node 212 (FIG. 2)may use the global positioning system (GPS) location of the property todetermine the current weather outside of the property.

Then, at 316, based on the determined amenities, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may provide a response to the user on theelevator. Specifically, and as previously described in FIG. 2 at 226 and240, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may send anacknowledgement response to confirm the desired floor level based on thereceived user input and the at least one identified amenity.Additionally, and as previously described in FIG. 2 at 228 and 240, theelevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may provide anapplication response to the identified and processed location-basedfeature that is processed by an application. For example, in response toreceiving the user statement “go to the rooftop club/bar” from a user onan elevator of a hotel property, the elevator assistant program 108A,108B (FIG. 1) may provide an audible response such as “rooftop floorlevel confirmed” as an acknowledgement that the elevator is navigatingto the rooftop. Also, for example, in response to receiving the userstatement “what is the current weather” from the user on the elevator ofthe hotel property, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1)may provide the audible response “the current weather is 76 degrees.”

It may be appreciated that FIG. 2 provides only illustrations of oneimplementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to howdifferent embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to thedepicted environments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram 400 of internal and external components ofcomputers depicted in FIG. 1 in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that FIG.4 provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not implyany limitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements. For example, the computer 102 (FIG. 2) associated with anelevator may include an interactive touchscreen (i.e. located on theelevator), and at step 306, the elevator assistant program 108A, 108B(FIG. 1) may provide a user interface to the user via the interactivetouchscreen to receive the user input via a user typing on the userinterface. More specifically, for example, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may receive user input by receiving a usertyping via the interactive touchscreen and the user interface, “304” toindicate a room number, and/or “Rooftop,” and/or “Weather.”Additionally, according to one embodiment, the elevator assistantprogram 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may provide a list of the amenitiesassociated with a property via the interactive touchscreen and the userinterface, whereby the user may select from the list an amenity ofinterest.

Data processing system 800, 900 is representative of any electronicdevice capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Dataprocessing system 800, 900 may be representative of a smart phone, acomputer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may represented bydata processing system 800, 900 include, but are not limited to,personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thickclients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, anddistributed cloud computing environments that include any of the abovesystems or devices.

User client computer 102 (FIG. 1), and network server 112 (FIG. 1)include respective sets of internal components 800 a, b and externalcomponents 900 a, b illustrated in FIG. 4. Each of the sets of internalcomponents 800 a, b includes one or more processors 820, one or morecomputer-readable RAMs 822, and one or more computer-readable ROMs 824on one or more buses 826, and one or more operating systems 828 and oneor more computer-readable tangible storage devices 830. The one or moreoperating systems 828, the software program 114 (FIG. 1) and theelevator assistant program 108A (FIG. 1) in client computer 102 (FIG.1), and the elevator assistant program 108B (FIG. 1) in network servercomputer 112 (FIG. 1) are stored on one or more of the respectivecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 830 for execution by one ormore of the respective processors 820 via one or more of the respectiveRAMs 822 (which typically include cache memory). In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 4, each of the computer-readable tangible storagedevices 830 is a magnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive.Alternatively, each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices830 is a semiconductor storage device such as ROM 824, EPROM, flashmemory or any other computer-readable tangible storage device that canstore a computer program and digital information.

Each set of internal components 800 a, b, also includes a R/W drive orinterface 832 to read from and write to one or more portablecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 936 such as a CD-ROM, DVD,memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk orsemiconductor storage device. A software program, such as an elevatorassistant program 108A and 108B (FIG. 1), can be stored on one or moreof the respective portable computer-readable tangible storage devices936, read via the respective R/W drive or interface 832, and loaded intothe respective hard drive 830.

Each set of internal components 800 a, b also includes network adaptersor interfaces 836 such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless Wi-Fiinterface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired orwireless communication links. The elevator assistant program 108A(FIG. 1) and software program 114 (FIG. 1) in client computer 102 (FIG.1), and the elevator assistant program 108B (FIG. 1) in network server112 (FIG. 1) can be downloaded to client computer 102 (FIG. 1) from anexternal computer via a network (for example, the Internet, a local areanetwork or other, wide area network) and respective network adapters orinterfaces 836. From the network adapters or interfaces 836, theelevator assistant program 108A (FIG. 1) and software program 114(FIG. 1) in client computer 102 (FIG. 1) and the elevator assistantprogram 108B (FIG. 1) in network server computer 112 (FIG. 1) are loadedinto the respective hard drive 830. The network may comprise copperwires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,switches, gateway computers, and/or edge servers.

Each of the sets of external components 900 a, b can include a computerdisplay monitor 920, a keyboard 930, and a computer mouse 934. Externalcomponents 900 a, b can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards,touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each ofthe sets of internal components 800 a, b also includes device drivers840 to interface to computer display monitor 920, keyboard 930, andcomputer mouse 934. The device drivers 840, R/W drive or interface 832,and network adapter or interface 836 comprise hardware and software(stored in storage device 830 and/or ROM 824).

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrative cloud computing environment 500 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 500 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 100 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 500A, desktop computer 500B, laptop computer500C, and/or automobile computer system 500N may communicate. Nodes 100may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown)physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private,Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or acombination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 500 tooffer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which acloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 500A-Nshown in FIG. 5 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 100 and cloud computing environment 500 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 6, a set of functional abstraction layers 600provided by cloud computing environment 500 (FIG. 5) is shown. It shouldbe understood in advance that the components, layers, and functionsshown in FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments ofthe invention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layersand corresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and elevator assistant 96. An elevatorassistant program 108A, 108B (FIG. 1) may be offered “as a service inthe cloud” (i.e., Software as a Service (SaaS)) for applications runningon mobile devices 102 (FIG. 1) and may provide a cognitive interactiveelevator assistant.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system for providing an interactiveelevator assistant, comprising: one or more processors, one or morecomputer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangiblestorage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one ormore processors via at least one of the one or more memories, whereinthe computer system is capable of performing a method comprising:identifying a plurality of amenities associated with a property, andidentifying a plurality of location-based features within a vicinityoutside of the property, wherein identifying a plurality of amenitiescomprises querying a database to identify the plurality of amenities,querying a first application to identify the plurality of amenities, andreceiving a plurality of property information from an administrator viaa user interface; wherein the identified plurality of amenities arelocated on the property; wherein the identified plurality oflocation-based features are located within a vicinity outside of theproperty; mapping the plurality of identified amenities to one or morefloor levels associated with the property; storing the plurality ofidentified and mapped amenities; receiving user input from a userlocated on an elevator associated with the property; in response todetermining that the received user input comprises at least one amenityassociated with the stored plurality of identified and mapped amenities,determining the one or more floor levels on the property that areassociated with the at least one amenity and triggering the elevator tonavigate to the determined one or more floor levels; in response todetermining that the received user input comprises at least onelocation-based feature associated with the plurality of location-basedfeatures within the vicinity outside of the property, sending thereceived user input to a second application for processing; andproviding a response to the user on the elevator based on the determinedone or more floor levels and the processed received user input via thefirst application and the second application, wherein the responsecomprises at least one of an audible acknowledgement of the determinedone or more floor levels that the elevator is triggered to navigate to,and an audible application response based on the received applicationresponse.